After enduring countless nightmares and memories, fighting for his life through one worst future after another, Gao Ming finally entered the Future God's memories. There, he and the Future God retraced the path of the past, growing from a faint consciousness born in a haunted house into a divine will that enveloped an entire city.
Living deep within the Shadow World, worshipped by countless followers, Gao Ming and the Future God both became godlike presences there. Yet the paths they chose were utterly different.
Eternal night descended. Against the vast night sky, the city's artificial sun was like a flickering candle that could go out at any moment.
The residents felt an immense terror. Their first reaction was not to pray for Gao Ming's protection, but to reveal the Ghost Markings on their bodies and join forces with the Vengeful Ghosts living in the city, keeping a wary watch.
An icy wind howled as bands of refugees converged on the city. They were sallow and emaciated, their eyes brimming with malice, and most suffered from various diseases.
As they launched their assault on the city, Gao Ming's will opened his eyes in the Old Residence at its center. At the rear of the refugee procession, he saw a group of monsters whose bodies had merged with ghosts. They carried an altar bearing a clay sculpture whose face bore some resemblance to Gao Ming's.
Its entire body was immaculate, and a terrifying pressure radiated from it. It took eighteen monsters, neither human nor ghost, to lift it.
Sensing Gao Ming's gaze, the clay sculpture opened its eyes. The power of faith, nurtured to its utmost peak, instantly pierced the night and stabbed into Gao Ming's eyes like sharp arrows.
The moment the sculpture opened its eyes, two of the eighteen monsters